‘National Logistics Strategy could increase Bangladesh’s overall export’

Logistics costs increase the overall production and business cooperation cost in Bangladesh by 4.5 – 48% and the initiation of the National Logistics Strategy along with reducing dwell times at Chattogram Port and national highway congestions could increase the overall export of Bangladesh by 19%, said Tatiana Peralta Quiros, senior transport specialist of World Bank Group.

She was presenting the keynote speech on "Reducing Logistics Costs to Enhance Bangladesh's Trade Competitiveness and Export Growth" on Saturday during the Logistics Infrastructure Development Working Committee meeting jointly organised by Business Initiative Leading Development (Build) and the Prime Minister's Office.

During the meeting, Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO, Build, said formulation and implementation of the National Integrated Logistics Policy could help attract investment and increase export competitiveness to realise the targets of the eighth Five Years Plan and Perspective Plan 2041.

She said Build and the Ministry of Industries are working together to include logistics as a high priority sector and declare investment incentives for logistics and its sub-sectors in a separate chapter of the upcoming National Industrial Policy 2021.

The virtual meeting on Saturday was co-chaired by Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah, secretary of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Abul Kasem Khan, chairperson of Build, read a press release.

Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah said, logistics needs more investment and the existing policy needs reforms so that more investment is made. He recommended that the sector should be based on technology and skill.

Adding that the private sector should also assist with value-backed data, he emphasised advocacy for logistics. He added that the most apposite in these times policy-wise would be to have a structured policy framework that may steer regulatory reforms as well as policy interventions, paving the way for a "logistics environment".

Abul Kasem Khan, the chairperson of Build, said structural reform is required to mitigate key bottlenecks of the logistics system in Bangladesh. The logistics sector should be declared as a thrust sector besides a high priority sector and proper incentives should be declared to attract local and foreign investment.

Rizwan Rahman, president, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said logistics should be included in the industrial policy as a sector. He added that privatisation of airports, seaports, railroads is the demand of time and decentralisation of industrialisation should be incentivised to attract investment.

Special Procurement Act should be considered to prepare logistics policy, Rahman further stated.

Mahbubul Alam, President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said that there is no policy on the in-out time of container trucks in Chattogram. The establishment of a central truck terminal may reduce the congestion stemming from this.

Water connectivity may reduce over-dependency on the roads, he added.

Captain Kamrul Islam Mazumder from Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (Bicda), Syed Ershad Ahmed, president, AmCham, Kabir Ahmed, president, Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (Baffa), Masrur Reaz, chairman, Policy Exchange, also spoke during the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Zubaida Nasreen, director general-I of PMO, Anisur Rahman, director-1 of PMO, and Mohammad Lutfullah, senior private sector specialist, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group including representatives from 16 government ministries and private sector leaders.